BIOCHEMICAL STUDY OF VASCULAR CELL ADHESION MOLECULE-1 IN HYPERTENSIVE PREGNANCY

Abstract

Pre-eclampsia complicates between 3% and I 0% of all pregnancies and remains a major leading cause of maternal morbidity and mortality. Pre-eclampsia is clearly a complex clinical syndrome that

potentially involves all body systems.

The diverse manifestations of PE, including altered vascular reactivity, vasospasm, defective placentation and discrete pathology in many organs, are derived from pathological changes in the maternal vascular endothelium. Maternal endothelial ciysfunction is the key event resulting in the diverse clinical manifestations ofPE.

Our stuciy included 85 women, classified as gestational hypertesion (n=20), mild PE (n=J5), severe PE (n=20), normotensive pregnant (n=J5) and normotensive non pregnant (n=l5).

All pregnant women were of gestational age > 24 weeks, primigravidae and singleton pregnancies with exclusion of women with chronic hypertension, diabetes mellitus, renal disease, cardiac disease and those who were smokers from the study. Thorough physical examination complete blood count (including

platelets count) and routine laboratory tests were performed for all women.

Blood samples were taken (fasting > 16 hours) and sera were separated and l!Sed the following investigations:

Soluble vascular cell adhesion molecule-1, serum triglycerides, very low density lipoprotein, total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein cholesterol, low ciensity lipoprotein cholesterol and uric acid were determined in normotensive pregnant and normotensive nonpregnant women as a control group.